60 |FLIGHTPATH
(‘X’) that was shot down by enemy flak or
night fighters near the centre of Warsaw. He
worked as an orchardist before the war and
initiallysignedupforthe3rdLightHorse
before enlisting in the RAAF. He left behind
hiswifeand22-montholdson.Acommemo-
rative plaque dedicated to the crew was
erectedintheOchotadistrictofWarsaw
where the aircraft crashed.
AlexanderBennettwaskilledwhenhis
HalifaxII(JP181,‘X’)wasshotdownby
FeldwebelHelmutKonterinaGermanJu88
nightfighteron5August1944,nearWo-
jnicz. Just half an hour before, Konter had
shot down another Halifax (JP162, ‘S’) with
thelossofhalfofitscrew.Thisparticular
airlift operation suffered heavy losses.
Bennettwas29yearsoldandwasthe
bombaimeronthisparticularflight.A
plaquewaserectedinthechurchinWojnicz
in 1986 by the local villagers to commemo-
rateBennettandhiscolleagues.The‘Monu-
ment to the Allies in Dębina Zakrzowska’
was erected in 1991 incorporating frag-
mentsoftheHalifax.Theaverageageofthe
crew was 23.
TheAustralianwhosurvivedtheLibera-
torlossthatkilledLiversidgeon16August
1944, 23-year old Flight Lieutenant Allan
Hammet, as mentioned earlier, was the only
memberofthecrewtoevadecapture.Itwas
his third supply sortie to Warsaw.
Hammetlandedandburiedhisparachute
underapileofpotatoes.Heeventuallycame
acrossPolishpartisansinafarmhouseand
wasgivenmedicalassistanceandvodka.He
joined a fighting Partisan group of more
than200menandwomenhidinginaforest,
north of Kraków.
He stayed with the partisans for six
months before handing himself over to the
SovietswhorepatriatedhimtotheUK.He
marriedaPolishwomanin1945.Sheand
herdaughterfromapreviousmarriageem-
barkedforAustraliawithhimandsetupa
knitwear manufacturing business.
Beforehisreturn,hewasputincommand
of a British Mission where he looked after 800AlliedPOWescapees.Mostofthemenwere
billetedbyPolishhouseholders.Hammetre-
flectedafterthewarthatitwas“thanksto
thekindnessofthesePoles,thatthetroops
were kept going... existing on potatoes.” Re-
markably, Hammet did not receive a Polish
Cross of Va lou r. He was, however, a recipient
of the Distinguished Flying Medal for impro-
vising communications after a raid over
Duisberg in the Rhine two years earlier.
TheWarsawUprisingwasultimatelyun-
successful. The supply drops to partisans in
PolandandYugoslavia,thesabotageefforts
and the bombing raids could not save the
thousands who perished or assist the resist-
anceforcestodefeattheGermans.Thein-
telligencesmuggledoutofPolandandback
to London during the Wildhorn operations,
however, was vital. Involvement in such
dangerous clandestine operations displayed
a different kind of bravery. Bravery for a
causesofarawayfromhome,theseacts
have cemented Australian-Polish co-opera-
tion and friendship in history.